Lullaby
by L.J. Gryphon
Summary: Depending on who you ask, it was either a really bad idea or a genuinely good one that took a turn for the worst. Nonetheless, there was no doubting that it was Merritt's turn to pick the movie and so every was in agreement that the events that followed were, in fact, his fault. (One-Shot)


**A/N:** Hey there, it's me. I recently watched the movie Now You See Me and I fell in love with it. Eventually I stumbled my way over to tumblr and found this headcanon that gave me inspiration to write a fanfiction. This is a little one-shot based off that headcanon, so the original idea goes to theshowmanjdanielatlas on tumblr and it was submitted to the tumblr blog nysmheadcanons. So go check it out.

The prompt was _"Daniel has severe nightmares so, he sleeps with earphones connected to a black iPod touch in his ears to drown them out. He brings it everywhere they go and, if he forgets it for whatever reason, he barely sleeps."_

So here it is. I hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

**Lullaby**

* * *

Depending on who you ask, it was either a really bad idea or a genuinely good one that took a turn for the worst. Nonetheless, there was no doubting that it was Merritt's turn to pick the movie and so every was in agreement that the events that followed were, in fact, his fault.

Friday nights were a sacred ritual of couch-sitting and popcorn-eating in front of a small television screen in the middle of the shabby loft they like to call 'headquarters.' It was decided upon after an hour of arguments and facts that were only relevant in the mind of J. Daniel Atlas that the Horsemen would take turns in deciding which movie they would watch each night. Unfortunately, their film stash was merely a stack of eight movies, two of which mysteriously ended up with a maze of scratches on the backs that resulted in their untimely deaths. So that left the Horsemen with six options. Six of which they have watched many times before. One of which Merritt chooses every Friday: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Along with the movie schedule, there was also an unspoken seating law where a portion of the couch belonged to one person and one person only. Any deviance from this law was met with an ice cold glare from miss Reeves, which was a force more feared than death itself. In accordance to the rule, they were found in their normal spots as the movie began rolling the opening scene. Henley sat to the far left with her legs curled under and an elbow propped up on the armrest. To her right was Jack, who had the misfortune of being entrusted with the middle cushion. Moving even an ounce in either direction resulted in the said feared force or a string of words that told him exactly what they thought of the slight fidget. So rather than tempting fate the younger man sat on the floor in front of the couch where it was safe with bowl of popcorn ready to be devoured. On the furthest seat to the right was Merritt. He laid where he dropped, limbs sprawled out without a care for where they landed, a remote clutched loosely in his hand, and eyes tracking every movement on the glowing screen in front of him. Daniel was the lucky one, at least in his mind. He had all the perks and glory of the one seat recliner. The illusionist sat with his feet up and a deck of cards moving through his hands with precision. He paid little mind to the movie and instead ran through every card trick he knew in order those at the amateur stage to those of what he considered to be a true magician.

Any other night this would fly right over the others heads. However, tonight was different. They had all been through a hard day of putting on a small show and running from a group of men who found magic anything but amusing. It so happened that they also found themselves trekking through the pouring rain all the way home. So it was only twenty minutes in by the time Henley started visibly bristling at the sounds of repeated shuffling. Every time Danny flipped a card, Merritt turned up the sound level on the TV one notch to drown him out.

Eventually, it was as if the tension in the room just suddenly snapped.

Henley's arms shot out like a viper as she swiped the cards from his hands and played the fifty-two card pick-up game by tossing them behind the couch in one fluid motion.

Daniel, for his part, showed little physical reaction as he simply raised an eyebrow and began to speak. However, he was beat to it by Henley. "Don't say a thing."

Being a smart man he promptly closed his mouth. Only to open it again a few seconds later. "If you wanted me to stop, you only had to use your words."

He was on the receiving end of the feared force that night, which was then subsequently transferred to Merritt as he gave off a low whistle without taking his eyes of the movie. With the loss of his cards and having nothing else to do with his hands, Danny subconsciously starting twiddling his thumbs and halfheartedly began to watch the movie.

A chilled silence fell over the room. The only sounds were of the television and Merritt's lips moving quietly in sync to the dialogue. After few moments of this Jack—finding the whole situation terribly uncomfortable—decided then that what they really needed was a little stress relief. In the form of a projectile pillow. Aimed directly at the target of Daniel's head. Needless to say, the minute the pillow hit its mark Jack was bolting into the other room. From the way he ran, it was as if he just threw a grenade.

At first the room remained speechless. Danny's hair was ruffled from the impact and his face was a look of complete and utter bewilderment. In his lap lay the pillow that had just assaulted him, and snickering breathlessly in the kitchen was the culprit. To no one's immediate surprise, Merritt burst out into laughter, and with only one second to think on what we was about to do next threw a second pillow into the stiff form of Henley.

Like hitting the play button on a remote the room leaped into action. The mentalist dived into the hallway as Daniel took off in pursuit of Jack. Henley's face lit up in an amused smile, discarding the stress lines from earlier, and went looking for the spare foam dart guns Jack kept around the house. From there it is was chaos. Laughter filled chaos.

As the Horsemen got to know each other they slowly began to grow closer. They eventually became better friends, and found themselves doing sorts of things like childish pillow fights and magic wars more often than one would imagine. It was like a relief from life, from their problems, and from all worries. It was the act of letting out aggression and frustration in the sanest way possible. Working with tricks and illusions all day can sometimes disconnect someone from reality. The little things like this is what they did to bring themselves back. It was also the way they made each other feel better after a troubling day. So when Henley rounded the corner with a Nerf gun in each hand firing at any moving object, it was perfectly normal.

"You can't hide from an escape artist, Merritt!" Henley said as she peeked into one of the rooms. From the corner of her eye she saw the man make a desperate dash for the stairs and, with the accuracy brought on by adrenaline, she managed to fire off a shot that hit him square in the chest.

He clutched the supposedly wounded area with a look of mock hurt before pretending to fall over lifeless. He was always a great sport in playing along. Especially with the red head.

Jack wasn't fairing any better than his accomplice. Daniel had managed to corner the boy between the sink and himself, and approached with a calm arrogance. Jack, quickly calculating his options, fanned out the deck of cards he keeps in his jean pockets. "Pick a card."

"What?"

"Don't you know this trick?" Jack jested, only to have the smirk fall from his face as Danny took an alarming step closer. "OK, if you can tell me how I did this, you are free to stuff as many pillows as you want in my face. If not, I walk out of this alive."

It wasn't much of a deal for Daniel as he could very well catch the younger man here and now, but he was mildly intrigued with what Jack had planned so he willingly took the bait. Feigning hesitance he reached out and plucked a card from the deck. It was the eight of spades. "I'm going to take a shot in the dark here and say you want me to put it back now?"

"Uh, yeah, do that."

Daniel returned the card to the deck and Jack began his misdirection shuffles and slide of hand. Danny watched all of this with mild amusement all the while knowing exactly what was happening to his card. Really, it was almost like child's play. Jack gave the cards one final shuffle and fanned them out again. With a snap of his fingers (and a hilariously wide grin) he turned the deck over so that they were face up.

"Do you see your card?"

Danny gave him a look of why-are-you-even-wasting-my-time and said a blunt no.

"Really? Damn. I could've sworn this was your card," Jack said as he took a two of diamonds from the pile. "Are you sure?"

"Jack—"

"Of course you're sure! Your card isn't in the deck because your card is in fact in your left pant pocket."

True to his word when Danny looked away to reach into the pocket he pulled out the eight of spades. He wasn't surprised. It was a trick he knew well and even played a few times in his beginning years as a magician. What surprised him was how Jack honestly thought that a rookie trick like this would fool the seasoned illusionist. Yet when Danny looked up from the card to tell this to the boy Jack was halfway out the kitchen door. Trailing behind his fleeting figure were two white objects that looked suspiciously like headphones seemingly connected to a black iPod touch. The same black iPod touch that Daniel carried with him in his left pant pocket. The very one he was never found without.

There was a brief moment of sheer panic that showed through his arrogant, confident façade as he watched Jack disappear.

* * *

Jack tumbled down the hall with fire on his heels. If throwing the pillow wasn't bad enough, this little stunt would definitely put him into the doomed category. There would definitely be arguing and maybe a little yelling, but hey it was all in good fun, right? It was just an iPod. Granted, Daniel always had the thing with him like it was some prized possession, especially when he slept, but it wasn't some priceless family heirloom. He would give it back eventually. You know, after he showed it to Henley and Merritt and finally figured out exactly what kind of music the great J. Daniel Atlas listened too.

He dashed around the next corner only to tumble straight into the fallen body—why was he on the floor anyway?—of one mentalist. From there things played out as if in slow motion. Jack tripped forward in a direct descent to the floor and the black iPod dislodged itself from his grip. Both he and the device had a moment of free falling before one hit the floor right after the other. The man dropped with a loud thumb and a word straight from a sailor's mouth while the iPod crashed with a sound surprisingly similar to that of glass breaking. In other words, the screen was absolutely shattered.

Yep. It was definitely Merritt's fault.

Henley suddenly materialized by his side, wide-eyed with concern. "Oh my god, Jack are you alright?" Yet Jack didn't answer as he could only stare in horror at the black crime scene in front of him.

Merritt was picking himself up from the floor and brushing off his clothes. It didn't hurt him much. At least the boy wasn't wearing shoes or his gut would be in for it. Yet he stopped when his gaze found the mess on the floor. "Is that… Danny's?"

Jack nodded miserably while Henley helped him to his feet. He was in the doomed category before. Now there wasn't even a level for how much shit he was about to face. Danny was going to kill him.

As if on cue, Daniel appeared in the doorway, face full of unreadable emotion as he took in the scene.

"I can see that look in your eyes so let's get one thing straight before anyone jumps to any conclusions. I had nothing to do with it," said Merritt who was now leaning against the stairs with his arms crossed.

Henley kicked him softly in the shin before turning to what she imagined was a distraught Danny. "It was an accident, honestly. Jack was running and tripped over Merritt and the iPod just sort of fell—"

"No," Jack interrupted her. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have taken it. I'm sorry." Through his short words of apology he fidgeted where he stood and his eyes darted frantically between the broken iPod and its owner.

Yet Daniel didn't speak. He simply stood there with his mouth slightly agape trying to comprehend what had just happened. This was odd because the other Horsemen had never seen the illusionist so quiet and rattled. Especially by something as small as a broken iPod. Those could be easily replaced. They all stood in an awkward silence until Danny moved ever so slightly. His posture straightened and all emotion beside annoyance was wiped from his face so fast that the others wondered if they imagined it. He gave off a small irritated huff and nudged a piece of the screen with his foot.

"Well, now I guess I have to go and buy a new one. Not that this wasn't fun and all, but I've had enough games for one day. You kids go ahead though, I'm just going to turn in for the night. Oh, and don't forget to clean up the mess."

With a mock smile and a wave he ascending the stairs. After a few beats they heard what they believed to be the door to his bedroom close. The remaining three Horsemen shared equally confused looks while Henley bit her lip worriedly. Sure, they had broken his property and probably cost him a bit of money but it wasn't that bad. At least, they hoped it wasn't that bad. What was on the iPod anyway that wasn't synced to his laptop? Everything about the situation was fixable.

Yet they all felt a similar sense of guilt wash over them as if they had done something really horrible.

"I think we should put Jack in timeout. That was a very naughty thing to do."

Jack glared daggers at Merritt. The older man always found it amusing to tease the boy about his age. He was an adult like the rest of them but that didn't seem to really matter to the older man. Yet what would've been a comeback to the insult died on his lips.

Instead, he went and grabbed the broom and began sweeping the evidence of his offense into the waste bin hoping that this would all be long forgotten by tomorrow.

* * *

Everyone had more or less floated in a dull haze to their beds after the rather eventful day. With the exhaustion in their bones and weary minds it didn't take long for each light to go out in every room of the loft. It took even less time from when their heads hit the pillows to the moment they fell into a deep sleep. A quiet rhythm of breathing and the whirl of a fan turned on low echoed throughout the space. Yet as the hours ticked passed midnight new sounds began to join in. It was the sound of restless distress in the form of frightened mumbles and the tossing of a body trying to get away from an unseen evil. The sounds drifted in from Danny's room, where it appeared that the magician's sleep was anything but peaceful.

The unconscious movements grew more frantic and he struggled beneath the sheets as they clung to his damp skin. Soft whimpers escaped from trembling lips getting louder as time wore on. Hidden brown eyes flicked desperately behind closed eyelids as the nightmare played on a screen only he could see.

"_Lydia! I wasn't done talking to you!" _

That voice. That angry, hurtful voice that plagued his early childhood. It was as if it was right there next to him, a booming in his ears that seemed to rattle the whole house.

"_Let go of me!" she cried, yanking her arm loose of his bruising grip._

_There was a loud snap of one object hitting another. _No. It sounded more like the striking of flesh.

"_Mom!" _

A child too young. He should've stayed in bed. Why didn't he just listen and stay in bed?

"_Danny, I need you to go back upstairs sweetheart. Everything's alright, Mommy and Daddy are fine."_

Lies. It was always a lie and he knew it. It was never alright because even from where he stood he could smell the alcohol on the man's breath. He couldn't turn around and walk away. Not this time. He was going to make them listen. This wasn't the kind of house—the kind of family—for a kid to grow up in. It had to stop.

He just didn't think he could take it anymore.

"_Get out of my way you little shit."_ That was followed closely by her choking sob_. "No, Howard don't you dare touch him! Daniel go upstairs right now," she pleaded._

"_Stop… please stop hurting each other. I just want everyone to be happy. I just want to see everyone smile again."_

The tears were foreign because they weren't tears of sadness. They were tears of longing. Howard didn't like the tears on Lydia, but he especially hated the tears streaming down the boy's face. Perhaps it reminded him that he had a family that he was supposed to care about. Maybe that was the real reason for what happened that night.

"_Danny!"_

He thrashed and attacked outward with flailing limbs until finally he awoke with a terrified shout. He shot up in bed while gasping for the air his lungs seemed to lack. He could feel the sticky sweat drip from his forehead and the shivers that wracked his body. It wasn't cold, but he did feel unbearably hot. Daniel threw off the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed to rest his head in between. Breathe in, breathe out. It was a mantra he knew all too well. On the fourth breath he regained enough composure to hear the footsteps coming from the hallway a second before the door burst open.

Looking up he saw Henley faintly outlined by the moonlight, her red mane a tussled mess and wearing red striped pajama shorts. He found this odd before his brain registered that it was the middle of the night. "Danny? I thought I heard you scream," she said as she scanned the room, "are you alright?"

Before he could reply, Jack appeared behind her with an equally disheveled look. "What happened? What's wrong?"

The two converged on him where he was still huddled in on himself—the second slightly more hesitant in his approach like he was facing a caged animal. Danny, coming back from the shock of the retreating nightmare, felt the back of his neck start to burn with humiliation. He was an absolute wreck of someone who looked like they lost a fight. His normal aura of cockiness was nowhere to be found, and frankly he couldn't find the strength to go looking for it.

He attempted to reply but all that came out was a ragged croak. He cleared his throat and tried again. "I'm fine," Danny said with a forced smile, "just, uh, it was just a nightmare. Nothing else."

"You made a lot of commotion for 'just' a nightmare. I could hear you thrashing from three doors down." Merritt made his way into the room with eyebrows raised, hands hanging in midair from where he emphasized his point with air quotes. He took a quick look at the still shivering body of the illusionist and promptly sat down on the edge of the queen bed.

"I don't think I've ever heard you have a nightmare before," Henley said as she anxiously brushed her hair behind her ear. She took a seat next to Merritt on the bed while Jack leaned against the dresser.

"Well, I've never slept without music since we met."

It wasn't supposed to come out. Honestly, it was a miracle it slipped passed his processing even in his state. The moment the words left his lips he immediately wished he could take it right back. It was common knowledge that Danny never discussed his personal life outside of magic and his role as a Horseman. Whenever the others shared stories about their past—though it didn't happen often—he refused to offer up any of his own and instead would change the discussion as quick as humanly possible. The iPod and music were two things that fell into the personal category. They only asked once, but he never gave them an answer. So they either stopped caring or decided not to question him again.

He used the music as a tool to drown out the nightmares. In the beginning he had nothing. There would be nights when the nightmares would be so painful that he refused to fall asleep. Eventually it became so bad that he had no other choice but to find a solution.

The music was an accident. The radio was playing in his rundown apartment and before he knew it he was sleeping soundly. There was no waking up in the middle of the night and staying awake until morning. The music somehow drove the nightmares away. He liked to think that it was because it brought on one of happy memories of his mom singing in the kitchen while she cooked dinner.

It became sort of a bedtime ritual from then on. He would plug the earphones in, play a song, and drift off into oblivion. When he began working with the Horsemen there was never a time when he didn't have his music. Until now.

The other occupants in the room shared a look of confusion before realization (and horror) dawned on Jack's face. "The iPod," he said, "you never sleep without it."

Henley let out a small gasp and Merritt closed his eyes briefly in understanding. They never thought that it was that important to him. It was more than a materialistic item, it held value that they couldn't quite comprehend. If they felt guilty before, this time around it came on much stronger.

A million questions burned through their mind such as why or what could have happened to cause these nightmares. Yet knowing what they did about Daniel they didn't ask. It was better not too, and it wouldn't help anything anyway. Talking about problems was never really Danny's style.

Jack opened and closed his mouth a few times before having enough courage to speak. "Jeez man, I am so sorry. Hey, look, I'll buy you a new one tomorrow."

Danny gave the boy a small smile, but it was easy to tell that it took effort. For the third time that day there was silence among the four. They didn't know whether to leave or try their hand at comforting the normally self-assured man.

Henley could see the remnants of the nightmare—whatever it may have been—still in his eyes. He was broken and the worst thing that could've ever happened did: the others were witness to it. Knowing Danny as she did she knew that the situation was frail at best. He could, and probably would, lock them out entirely if they all walked out now.

So Henley did something that night that surprised everyone in the room including herself. She moved next to Danny, put a hand on his shoulder, and began to hum.

It started out as a small beat. Nothing special. Yet it steadily grew louder and enveloped the room in a sweet song of soft notes. It was a lullaby.

Jack was the second one to join in. It didn't take long, but after the initial shock of what was happening faded away it only felt right, and so he hummed along to the tune.

Merritt was the last, but his deeper tone melded well with the others and soon it was like an orchestra. One that was composed and performed just for Daniel. It had ups and downs, but most of all it had meaning. With every note he felt more at ease, more protected, and more cared about than he ever had in his life. He felt the pinpricks of tears as his eyes clouded over.

The others had never seen Danny cry, and this broke their hearts more than his fear of falling asleep. Yet they knew that these weren't the sad kind of tears, they were tears of joy.

Daniel didn't say a word through the song but he didn't need too. They knew how much he appreciated it and he knew how much they cared. It wasn't something that could be expressed in words. It was something that could only be explained by a song. A lullaby. So they continued this way into the night until eventually one-by-one they fell asleep cuddled up on Daniel's bed. It was small and it was crowded but that was okay because they were family. They were the most important thing in each other's life. It hasn't been a lifetime or even a few years since they met but it might have well been.

When Daniel finally closed his eyes that night he didn't have another nightmare. He had a dream. A peaceful, restful dream.

On the following morning Danny woke up to find his bed empty of all other magicians. Yet propped on a pillow wrapped in a bright red bow was a brand new black iPod touch and a note. Reaching out he grabbed the note and read the sloppy hand writing of what he assumed to belong to Jack.

It read "Sweet Dreams" and was signed with a smile.

Daniel's lips tugged upwards in a grin and he fell back into bed. He grabbed the earphones and plugged them into the brand new iPod, which was already loaded with music, and hit the play button. He closed his eyes and just laid there, listening to the music until Henley yelled up the stairs with a threat of kicking his ass should he not come down for breakfast.

At first he didn't notice, but every night since that time Daniel slowly began to no longer need the comforting sounds of Aqualung's "Strange and Beautiful" to lull him into a peaceful unconsciousness. The earphones became more of a hindrance than an aid, and he would find himself taking them out to listen to a sound—or rather, sounds—that remedied his nightmares more than the music ever had. It was the subtle rustle of Henley's sheets as she readjusted in her sleep, the ever present snore of Merritt that bordered on a case of sleep apnea, and the quiet mumbling of Jack down the hall as he dreamed. Together these sounds created a new song, a lullaby. One that surrounded him in an embrace of love and protection. When Daniel finally figured out this change it was already too late to stop it. Yet that was okay with him. Though he would never admit it, he actually preferred it this way, and so he listened to the sounds of his friends, his new family, every night as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

_Thanks for reading!_


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